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J; A. OWENS. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STARGH.

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JOHN A. owENs. or LITTLE FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T O HIMSELF AND HENRYI. PETRlE.

Lelfars Patent No. 73,259, dated January 14, 1868.

IMPROVED APPARATUS TORTHE MANUFACTURE OF STARGH.

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1'0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I v Q Be it known that I, JOHN A. OWENS,of-Little Falls, in the couhty of Herkimer, and State of New York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Starch; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had to the annexed drawings, inakih'g a part of thisspecification, in which- 7 Figure 1 represents a side view of theapparatus.

Figure 2,121. sectional view of the screen.

Figure 3, a front view of the apparatus.

Figure 4, a top view of the agitating-tank.

Figure 5, a perspective view of one of the sieves. I v

A is the agitating-tank; A, the agitating-shaft and arm; A a spoutfromthe grinding-stones; A, a spout to the screen; 13, the frame inwhich the screen is hung; 13 ,11. bridge in the bottom thereof, toprevent the starch from running down the spent 13*; B, a spout forcarrying oil the screened stock; B :1. spout for the bran and oflal; B,hook and rods for suspending the screen. (1 is the frame of the screen;C is the upper sieve; C the lower sieve; G, airihcli'ncd plane between;C, a guide for turning the bran from the sieve G into the spout B; G", apin for holding the sieves in place; C, a'scrcw for pressing on; C anIndia-rubber packing, with metallic plate on the top forhol ding inplace; C the pitnian, for agitating the screen; Chis the bend in theside of the sieves; and C, the curved end. I

The nature of my invention consists in passing the ground grain throughan agitator before it is screened or bolted, and in the peculiarconstruction of the screen. As practised by others, the ground-grain isconveyed directly from the stones to the screen or bolt by a spout, andthe first efi'ort to separate the bran from thestarch is in the screenor bolt. This I find not to work perfectly. Sui'ilcient watercannotbekept on it while screening; it cannot he'suiliciently agitated, and theoperations follow one another too rapidly, and consequently there is a.loss of starch, Again, the screens orbolts used by others consist of asingle fine silk cloth. This receives the whole of-the grain, as well asforeign matter, which clogs it, and it is injured by the silicious partsof the grain, while the sharp, hard parts out the silk. These also causea loss of starch, as well as delay andtrouble in cleaning the bolt orscreen. I obviate all these objections by my invention.

The agitating-tank A maybe an ordinary circular tank or cistern, havinga central vertical shaft, with horizontal arms, which shaft may beturned by any convenient power. The tank has a spout, leading from themillstoncs, which conduct the grain its-ground into the tank, into whichis also run a sufficiency of water to well mix and wash the groundgroin, while the agitating-shaft is kept constantly rotating. This, byheating and stirring-the grain thoroughly, separates the starch from thebran or husk. When the mass in the tank has risen up to the pipe A, itcommences to run into the screen C, where the coarser bran and husk andforeign matter are separated from the stock. This screen 0 is composedof a frame, into which'a're inserted, in grooves in its side, two ormore sieves, C and C,wit-h an inclined plane, C between them, which maybe of sheet metal. The upper sieve, C, I make of wire bolting-cloth, asbetter calculated to stand the wear of the silicious matter of thebrauand foreign substances which may be mixed with the grain. The gluten,too, does not so readily adhere to it, and much of it passes oti"\viththe bran. The lower sieve, C is of the usual fine silk bolting-cloth.The stock which passes the upper sieve slides down the inclined plane!)and falls upon the upper eudof C, and

as it has none of thecoarse bran or oils] or foreign matter, the sieveoperates more freely, and allows the stool; t c

pass through more readily, and there is less liability to clog. Water,of course, is kept running upon thc'screen while in operation, as in theordinary process. All the bran or other matter which does not pass bothsieves is carried 05' by the spout B, while all that passes both fallsdown to the sloping bolter of the frame B, and is conveyed by the spout13 to the proper receptacle below for the further usual treatment. Thescreen is shaken in the usual way by n. pitman, C, attached to thescreen by a hook or slot in the end, and held in place by the Indiarubber in the end of the screen, when pressed down by the screw G whilethe other end is attached to a e 312k. Each of the sieves C and C isformed in a. peculiar manner.- The frame for a'short distance at thefrom end, is bent down, C and the front end of the frame is also curred,G. The object of these changes is to allow the bran and offal to pass,over the endof the sieves freely, and the curved end accommodates itselfto the sagging of the cloth. When the sieve is straight, or there is asag in the cloth, as there always will be when the sieve is made in theusual manner, the tendency is for the bran to lodge, which retards andrenders the work less perfect. But by bending the sides and curving theend, as described, there can be little or no sagging at the front end,and the bran passes ofi' freely.

I do not claim to have invented the agitating-tankconstructed asdescribed, for they are in common use for various purposes, but I claimit as an additional instrument in the manufacture of starch, for thespecial purpose of washing out and separating the starch from the otherparts of the grain, after grinding and before screening, as described. 7

Having thus described my invention,what Iclaim therein as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The tank A, with the shaft and arms A, constructed and operating asdescribed, and for the uses and purposes mentioned.

2. The screen 0, construe ted of the sieves C and C and the inclinedplane 0, substantially as describ d, and for the uses and purposesmentioned. 7

3. Forming the front end of the sieves C and G with the angle 0,substantially as described, and for the uses and purposes mentioned. I

4. Forming the end of the sieves C and C with a curve, substantially asdescribed, and for the uses and purposes mentioned.

' JOHN A. OWENS.

Witnesses:

HENRY GREEN, Jenn G. Guoexsn.

